Barkov leaves in second period for Panthers following awkward fall

Aleksander Barkov left in the second period for the Florida Panthers in a 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Thursday.

Barkov went down awkwardly while battling for the puck in the right corner during a power play at 8:07. After getting up, he immediately asked for the Zamboni doors to be opened and threw his gloves down on the floor while walking to the dressing room.

The 31-year-old forward was playing in just his second game for the Panthers this season after missing all of 2025-26 because of a right knee injury he sustained on the first day of that season's training camp. He had surgery the day after the injury to repair his MCL and ACL.

"He'll get looked at tomorrow," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "It's not related to his injury last year at all. We will have a good idea by tomorrow afternoon."

Although Barkov was not able to play for the Panthers last season, he did play for Finland at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland in May. He served as captain and had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 10 games for the Finns, who won the gold medal.

Prior to this season, Barkov said he had no concerns about his right knee.

“I have a better feeling going toward this camp knowing that I played some hockey, meaningful hockey, and felt good there,” Barkov said in September. “Especially the more we played, the better I felt. I was really happy about that.”

Barkov played 20:32 in the Panthers' season opener on Tuesday, a 1-0 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Selected by the Panthers with the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, Barkov has 782 points (286 goals, 496 assists) in 806 regular-season games. He also has 81 points (25 goals, 56 assists) in 94 playoff games, captaining Florida to back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2024 and 2025.

He is a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL (2021, 2024, 2025).